State Sen. Dan Debicella, R-Shelton, ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, said Tuesday that the bill plainly says that OPM and OFA have a five-day deadline.

"And within 10 days thereafter, both the governor and the Legislature's Appropriations and Finance Committee must come with balanced-budget proposals," Debicella said.

"Both the General Assembly and the governor are obligated to do this," he said. "For the Democrats to say, We don't have to do it but the governor does' is wrong."

Majority Democrats on Tuesday said the legislation, which took effect immediately upon passage Monday, had more to do with estimated future deficits or surpluses than with budget deadlines.

But state Comptroller Nancy S. Wyman, who is the arbiter if OFA and OPM cannot agree on forecasts, said Tuesday she believes that the legislation should prod lawmakers and Rell to agree upon a compromise $37 billion-plus budget by sometime in early August.

"They're going to have to come up with something," Wyman said in a phone interview. "It's time to really get in there. The people of the state need an answer."

Wyman, a fourth-term Democrat, said that OPM and OFA don't argue very often on budget projections. "If it comes down to the Legislature and OPM not agreeing, we'll be able to look at it and get back to them as fast and possible," she said.

Jeffrey Beckham, deputy OPM secretary, agreed his office and the nonpartisan legislative staff shouldn't have too much of a problem agreeing on revenue figures, which for the two-year budget that began July 1 could be around $8.5 billion in deficit.

"I expect at some point within the next few days we'll see what we need to comply," Beckham said. "When that's prepared, they have 10 days to put out a new budget document. The law requires the committee to vote on the new revenue forecast."

Majority Democrats, Republicans and the Republican governor continued bipartisan budget talks on Tuesday, but both sides are adhering to promises to decline comment.

"I don't think it will make a huge difference this year, but that's just my thought," Staples said, noting that his committee adopted a similar, $8.5 billion revenue shortfall in recent weeks for the budget Rell successfully vetoed.

"We'll know better, I think, by tomorrow," Staples said. "This process won't make a big difference this year because we're already very deep into negotiations and the governor has presented her budget. It may have more value next year, when we have to agree on projections in October, January and April."

State Rep. John C. Geragosian, D-New Britain, co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said Tuesday that he doesn't accept the theory that lawmakers may be forced to come up with a deal by early August.

"There's an argument to be made that the budget we passed sufficiently meets this law," he said. "It's debatable. It could have been drafted better. The nuts and bolts of getting this together needs time."

Derek Slap, spokesman for Senate majority Democrats, said the bill should have "little" effect on the active bipartisan negotiations.

"The law's real impact will be down the road, when we grapple with future deficits," he said. "The influence of politics on the budget process -- and the resulting gridlock -- will be reduced."

Rich Harris, Rell's Capitol spokesman, indicated Tuesday that deadline or not, the governor has been eager to agree on a compromise two-year budget.

"They're negotiating a budget right now and the governor has hoped all along to have a budget as soon as possible," Harris said.